Grow Licking County pitches Granville development strategy

Economic development and potential diversification of Granville’s tax base were the dominant topics at the July 18 Village Council meeting.

Council heard a presentation from Nathan Strum, executive director of Grow Licking County, regarding strategies and pathways that could lead to directed development opportunities along the Ohio 16 corridor in a joint effort between the Village and Township.

Those efforts, it was pointed out by Strum, could also help to provide a more diverse tax base to the benefit of Granville schools, which recently lost an income tax levy bid and which will be returning to the ballot this fall in an effort to create sustainable schools funding.

Also present at the July 18 presentation by Strum was Granville Schools Superintendent Jeff Brown, Granville Township Trustee Bryn Bird and Steve Matheny, executive director of the Granville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Citing a recent Cooperative Economic Development Agreement (CEDA) forged by the city of Marysville and Millcreek Township in Union County as a potential model for Granville to follow, Strum spoke of a vision for a potential “advance research materials park” or R&D development corridor, perhaps stretching from Owen’s Corning’s western boundary to Gale Road further west.

One of the challenges for that area is a lack of utilities in some stretches, but Strum said there could be grant potential to help pay for some extensions if the Village and Township forged a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) leading to a CEDA that formalizes dispersal of tax dollars between local entities resulting from development.

He also said the recent announcement of positions being moved from the Holophane plant in the Granville Business Park provides an opportunity for revitalization of that site which is located within the same corridor, as well.

The prospect of reusing, repurposing or “revitalizing” existing infrastructures is one Mayor Melissa Hartfield said she found particularly appealing, noting also the kind of development Strum was speaking of, and in that area, have been a part of the Granville Comprehensive Plan stretching back to perhaps 1962.

Strum noted he has been in his position for more than two years, but Wednesday night’s council meeting was the first at which he has addressed the Granville Village leadership in a formal meeting setting on the topic of development.

Acknowledging Brown and the school district’s continuing funding plight — as was stated many times during the spring levy campaign, Granville’s commercial tax base is extremely slight compared to virtually all other central Ohio communities. Strum said, “This could be a step in the right direction to diversify the tax base. We’re talking professional research and development opportunities. This is where we could steer (those employers)."

He continued, “I think the Granville Business Park is an asset but highly underutilized.”

The mayor said that moving forward, she hoped there could be a sensitivity to Granville’s rural atmosphere.

Strum said it would make sense to perhaps include a landscape consultant in any eventual development process to ensure acceptable aesthetic appeal and to preserve that sense of rural, rolling landscape on the entryway into Granville.

But it was also pointed out that strategic planning on the part of local officials from the Village and Township can also be key to better controlling Granville’s own future and entryways as other municipal entities increasingly encroach or threaten development at its boundaries but outside Granville control.

Bird pointed out “New Albany is coming out to 310,” a prospect the trustee described as very concerning.

Hartfield agreed, observing of New Albany, “That’s a machine. There will be nothing left unpaved over there.”

Vice Mayor Jeremey Johnson asked of Strum, “You’re here as a resource; what can we do with the township to advance this discussion?”

Strum said he would advocate the Township and Village begin immediately to shape an MOU for the corridor, a process he said should be realistically able to be completed by year’s end.

That would lead to a Cooperative Economic Development Agreement, which in turn would allow Strum in his role to begin conversations with and steering of desired businesses to the development corridor.

It was agreed that council members Phil Demarest and Johnson would begin dialogues with Bird and Granville Township Trustee Dan VanNess to start to shape an MOU document and to determine what both parties’ “no-go areas” might be.

“I think you could have an MOU finalized by the end of the year,” Strum asserted. “That’s a very reasonable timeline. Get this all in place, then let my office do its job.”

In other matters, it was noted the Granville Recreation District is planning a formal ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony for the new Wildwood Park on Aug. 25. More details, including time of the event, are forthcoming.